Black Zero
: "Whatever it is, it's waiting to make a dramatic entrance." : - Calvin Swanwick The Black Zero was a Kryptonian prison frigate originally designed by Jor-El to transport criminals into the Phantom Zone. It was used to imprison General Zod and the Sword of Rao following their failed coup, and, following Krypton's destruction, was later repurposed as their command ship. General Zod proceeded to utilise the ship as a means of searching the universe for Kryptonian survivors. When Kal-El triggered the distress beacon in Scout Ship 0344, the Sword of Rao travelled to Earth in their resumed pursuit of the Growth Codex. Upon finally reaching Earth, Zod attempted to use a World Engine to terraform the planet into a world suitable for Kryptonians, but was defeated by Emil Hamilton's activation of the Phantom Drive aboard Kal-El's Shuttle, sucking the ship and Zod's soldiers back into the Phantom Zone. History Development The Black Zero starship was originally designed by Jor-El, Krypton's foremost scientist of the Thinker Guild, and was originally a prison barge. Kryptonian Civil War General Zod and his Sword of Rao loyalists tried to stage a coup d'etat and take over Krypton, but they were eventually captured. Given that this was the worst crime committed on Krypton in many thousands of years, the Council decided to reuse the Black Zero to send Zod and his followers away to the Phantom Zone, for 300 years of somatic reconditioning. Once Zod and his men were imprisoned and loaded aboard the vessel, the Black Zero was sent into the Zone through Jor-El's projector. Destruction of Krypton When Krypton exploded due to its unstable core, and the Phantom Zone Projector was affected by the explosion, the Black Zero was subsequently released from the Zone along with General Zod and his loyalists, who, with the help of scientist Jax-Ur, retrofitted the ship as their new flagship and decided to travel the universe in search of Kryptonian survivors, the stolen Growth Codex and Kal-El. At one point during their travels, Zod and his crew found an old World Engine on Daxam and attached it to the Black Zero. 33 years after the beginning of their quest, Zod and his men finally picked up a Kryptonian beacon, sent out from the planet Earth; they followed the signal and subsequently realised that Jor-El's son Kal-El was on Earth, with the Codex. Battle of Metropolis Arriving in Earth's atmosphere, General Zod sent a message to both the human race and Kal-El, demanding that humankind hand Kal-El over to them and that Kal-El surrender or watch Earth suffer. Later, after the US military elected to hand Kal-El over to Zod, Sub-Commander Faora-Ul arrived in a dropship and retrieved Kal-El and Lois Lane, who were then brought aboard the Black Zero. They met Zod, who had a weakened Kal-El tied down before subjecting him to visions of humanity being wiped out while a new Krypton was being created on Earth. Meanwhile, Lois escaped from the Black Zero via an escape pod with the help of Jor-El. Kal-El also managed to escape with Jor-El's help and flew after Lois, whom he saved from the malfunctioning escape pod. As this was happening, Zod and his crew took the dropship and travelled to the Kent Farm in search of the Growth Codex. After a battle with Kal-El and Earth military forces, General Zod and his forces retreated to the Black Zero, which they positioned above Metropolis, and prepared to activate the gravity beam which would destroy Earth as the World Engine terraformed the planet into New Krypton. As Jax-Ur and others piloted the Black Zero, Zod and Faora defended it from Kal-El and Earth military forces. Lois, with the help of Colonel Hardy, got Kal-El's infant starship aboard a C-17, and used the craft's engine against the gravity beam, causing it to become unstable and create a singularity that sucked everything inside, including the Black Zero (which spaghettified in the process) and the plane that Hardy and the ship was on. Category:Items Category:Vehicles